Take action against persons giving surety bail, says SC

“It seems to us that it is necessary for the Appellate Court which is confronted with the absence of the convict as well as his counsel, to immediately proceed against the persons who stood surety at the time when the convict was granted bail, as this may lead to his discovery and production in Court.

“If even this exercise fails to locate and bring forth the convict, the Appellate Court is empowered to dismiss the appeal,” a bench of justices T S Thakur and Vikramjit Sen said.

“We are convinced that the interests of society at large are being repeatedly sacrificed for the exaggerated, if not misplaced concern for what is fashionably termed as ‘human rights' of convicts,” it said.